Let My People Go -- Where?

Physical freedom is not enough. Passover provides the opportunity of freedom with purpose.

We all recognize the danger of taking things out of context. I bet we've all had the personal experience of being misquoted -- either to a friend in a way that starts a fight, or if you or your spouse has ever been interviewed for a newspaper. It's difficult to completely trust what you read. The funniest thing I heard lately was a baseball player who had written his autobiography complaining that he was misquoted!

Even if the quote is accurate, it may be taken out of context, completely distorting it.

With regards to Passover, the Almighty's words have also been taken out of context, giving us a distorted picture of what the holiday is about.

Everyone is familiar with Moses' rallying call, "Let my people go." But how many of us know it's not his own words? It's the Almighty's words. And more importantly, how many of us know the rest of the quote?

God told Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go so that they may serve Me." Not just "let my people go," but let my people go with a purpose.

And not just any purpose, but that they may serve the Almighty.

Passover is not a rallying cry for all the oppressed peoples of the world. It's not about the "liberated lamb" (like one hagaddah I saw), feminism or even the Iraqis. Oppression is a terrible thing and we should definitely work to fight it; it's just not what Passover is about.

Passover is about the Jewish people forging a relationship with God. It's not about physical freedom. Physical freedom is just the prerequisite. As Abraham Maslow pointed out in discussing man's hierarchy of needs, we need our physical needs taken care of before we can probe more deeply.

On Passover, we celebrate God's gift of freedom from bondage that gives us the energy and motivation to grow spiritually.

The goal is psychological and spiritual freedom leading to the individual and collective ability to devote ourselves to God. Some people can achieve this freedom while still physically enslaved -- Natan Sharansky learned Hebrew in a KGB cell -- but most of us need the physical freedom first. On Passover, we celebrate God's gift of freedom from bondage that gives us the energy and motivation to grow spiritually. Once physical freedom is achieved, the real work begins.

There is a particular generosity to this gift. Freedom without purpose leaves us confused. Sometimes a freed criminal returns to jail; Russians have returned to the former USSR. Without goals, we don't know what to do with our freedom. Without a purpose, imprisonment can be more comfortable. Too many choices and options can overwhelm us. Although we say that freedom from Egyptian tyranny would have been enough (dayenu!), the true gift the Almighty gave us is purpose to our freedom; an end goal. We want to use our liberty to serve the Almighty.

On Passover we want to get free of the psychological impediments to our relationship with God. Chametz, leaven, represents one of those obstacles -- it's puffy, inflated, like our egos -- and our egos stand in the way of all our relationships, preventing us from putting the needs of others first or subjugating ourselves to a higher power.

And there are other obstacles as well that hold us back from being true to ourselves and our people. Perhaps it's the desire for the approval of others, perhaps it's our need for status or financial security, perhaps it's our drive to accomplish. We all have some combination of blocks.

As with any change, we need to begin slowly. For many years I worked on recognizing that I'm not in control and letting go. But the illusion has been hard to relinquish. Finally I said to myself that this isn't getting anywhere; let me try something smaller where I have a real chance of success. So I tried working on not caring about my weight (I don't know why I thought that was smaller!) and met with failure once again.

But like the Jewish people hanging on through years of tortured slavery and persevering as they wandered through the desert, I have not given up. I know that there are a lot of issues that stand in the way of fully realizing my potential. If I worry about what people think of me, perhaps I'll compromise in my relationship with the Almighty. If I worry about my financial status, perhaps I'll make unethical decisions or teach my children harmful lessons. If I focus on my accomplishments, I'll lose sight of the Source of all my gifts.

I'm going to focus on gratitude -- that all the good in my life comes from God, which, in turn, will inspire me to want to serve Him with greater devotion. With war in the world and people living in misery and under cruel dictatorships, it's a good time to appreciate what I have. After all, that's exactly what the song Dayenu is all about.

The goal of Passover is to free ourselves from these impediments so we can wholeheartedly develop our relationship with others and with the Almighty and so we can stand up for what we believe. "Let my people go" is an important beginning. "So that they may serve me" is the definitive destination. If we can teach ourselves and our children one thing about Passover this year, let's teach them its true goal.

About the Author

Emuna Braverman has a law degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters in in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University. She lives with her husband and nine children in Los Angeles where they both work for Aish HaTorah. When she isn''t writing for the Internet or taking care of her family, Emuna teaches classes on Judaism, organizes gourmet kosher cooking groups and hosts many Shabbos guests. She is the cofounder of www.gourmetkoshercooking.com.

Visitor Comments: 8

(7)
Hopey 5000,
April 22, 2006 12:00 AM

Do as we say not as we do.

Josh wrote, "passover is not rallying cry for oppressed."
...but many jews seem to think so!! ( stumble) all over themselves (jewish world watch) to save darfur... or fight for (other causes). I disagree

The Torah says afflict not the stranger for you were slaves in Egypt. We remember Passover for many reasons including how those in power treated the downtrodden and slaves.
When we see starvation in Darfus, and remember the difficulties our people faced, we should help. We should help where the need exists, and people in Darfu are closest to the Jewish slaves. In addition to helping the world, it helps us.

We disspel negative stereotypes through our actions and by helping others particularly non-Jews. People like you say, let's fight the anti-semitic canard that Jews only help themselves, but between us we're not helping non-Jews. Our actions dispell stereotypes more than our words.

Shoshana - Jerusalem,
April 16, 2014 8:13 PM

you misunderstood

Nobody said that Jews should not help others. We have always helped others. We lead the Civil Rights movement in the States. It's the Jews who are out there giving hot food and help after hurricanes, and other disasters to Jews and not-Jews alike, it's Israeli out in the world setting up field hospitals and saving non-Jewish lives.

What the article said is that yes, we should do these things, but that is not what Passover is all about.

Passover is about serving G-d. We were taken out of Egypt to serve G-d. Where? "On this Mountain", Mt.Sinai.. How? By accepting and following the Torah and all the Commandments. That is serving G-d. That is why He redeemed us from slavery in Egypt. To be His people, and serve Him. And by remaining Jewish, because we are His people and must not intermarry a and destroy our Convenant with Him, the King of Kings.

And on Passover we became free in order to serve Him in this way.

(6)
josh,
April 9, 2006 12:00 AM

passover is not rallying cry for oppressed

thank you: 'passover is not the rallying cry for all the oppressed peoples of the world"...but many jews seem to think so!! what will it take for our jewish brothers an sisters who stumble all over themselves (jewish world watch) to save darfur or fight for immigrant rights etc etc but who are dumb when it comes to the precious jews of gush katif(gaza)?

or, worse, nonjewish peoples who think they can use our incredibly profound traditions(isaiah, devarim, malachi, etc) for their own purposes...and, in the same breath, denigrate israel...

the answer is: jewish education for jewish people. the more the jewish people know the torah, the truth...really know what it says, then the less power the other forces have to misuse or distort it. when we study it, learn it, share it with each other we strengthen the torah's power in the world and in ourselves.

(5)
Estee,
April 5, 2004 12:00 AM

Great article

I really enjoyed the article - easy to read and understand, with lots of good and interesting information articulated beautifully.

(4)
Joseph,
April 11, 2003 12:00 AM

Happy pesach dear Aish,thank you very
much!

(3)
Yamin Bivens,
April 9, 2003 12:00 AM

Wonderful, true spiritual insights..

Finally, someone sees the true meaning of Pesach.. thank you for this enlightening article..

(2)
Magda R. Marti,
April 7, 2003 12:00 AM

Whose desire?

This is great. Thanks G-d that this time, just a few days prior to Passover this article is being posted. It certainly strengthens my belief that all I have to focus in what G-d wants me to do.